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29 Responses to “Memorial Day (Salute)”

I notice you included the ‘rant’ label. It’s not a rant. It’s a heartfelt truth. The price of freedom is never free. And those of us who wore OD green have lost friends and brothers who gladly paid the price for our freedoms.

Of course, my rant would also include this: You have the freedom to protest, but know that if you disrespect, stand on, or otherwise dishonor the colors that my brothers fought and died to defend, you’re liable to find out what ‘brothers in arms’ really means first hand. Because to you it’s just a piece of colored cloth – to me, it’s my country. We salute it, we fight for it, we honor it, and as in the picture above, we’re buried under it.

I have always felt that one of the reasons I signed up was to ensure those that want to have the freedom to burn the flag in protest. After all, it hurts no one and is protected in the very first article of the Bill of Rights.

It also serves as a very public demonstration of those idiots that think that burning the symbol of the very thing that guarantees them the right to so express themselves will somehow make their point. Those that disrespect the flag are showing contempt of the laws that allow them that right. I have zero respect for those idiots, and it is their right to show themselves as idiots.

I agree with averagejoe – I don’t like those who desecrate the flag, but acknowledge that it has been defined as a measure of free speech. I also (and I suspect many feel this way as well) feel that I have the freedom and right to remove that same flag from harm.

I don’t say happy – I know and have served with far too many who’ve paid that price for it to be a happy day, but I do wish that it will be a peaceful Memorial Day for all.

I was merely trying to point out that my freedom to do one thing does not negate my freedom to do the other.
I Have the freedom to draw perpendicular lines AND I have the freedom to draw parallel lines.
I also have the freedom to draw lines that are neither perpendicular nor parallel. Lines are not either one or the other
And, of course, I have the freedom to refrain from drawing any lines.

And you have the freedom to refrain from trying to make parallel comparisons that do not make sense. Nick’s use of or was correct in that he was stating that you had a choice to one thing or the other. You can not do both since they are contradictions.

You cannot do both *with the same action*, although even that’s debatable – it would depend on context. You could, from the point of view of one person, do one, but from the point of view of another, be doing the other.

You can also do either at different times – they are not mutually exclusive.

Everything has a context.

All of that being said, I very much appreciate Nick’s words here. What I believe he is saying is that at any particular moment you have a choice as to how you should act. Use that choice wisely.

Disclaimer: I am not an American, nor a veteran (though my father is), so I am not as invested in Memorial Day as US citizens are. Remembrance Day (Nov 11th) is my equivalent. But I recognise what it means, and I commemorate it with you.

Wonderful remembrance Nick. As one who served for 30 years and who made three deployments to RVN and was in Saigon in ’72-’73 until the war was “ended” (quotes intentional) and we abandoned the South Vietnamese it does me very proud to read what you wrote AND to see, very clearly, that the NCO in charge of the burial detail is a woman. Women died in WWII and Viet Nam for sure, and in Iraq and Afghanistan (and are still going in harm’s in both of those places, and it’s important for us all to recognize their valiant service … even when the politicians (both out of and in uniform) contend that “women aren’t on the front lines.” Even in RVN women could die from rockets while fixing up wounded just as well as their comrades did in foxholes … filled with mud! God bless the U.S. Armed Forces!

Nothing is free and freedom costs the most. For all of us who have not or could not serve, the least we can do is fly the flag and honor those who have. My deepest appreciation to all those who have served.

As a Canadian, I am not exactly a party to the discussion. That said, I can empathize with the sentiments. Lately, I have noticed a disturbing sentiment in US political discourse. An attitude of “if you disagree with my personal idea of patriotism then you are not an American”. It seems to be a paradox of celebrating individualism but demanding a homogeneous society.

Lastly, I am friends with a number of vets, both north and south of the border. It is grossly unfair that the burdens of military service fall on 1% of the population and their families. I am disgusted at politicians that are basically a bunch of REMF’s; calling for war from the safety of their capitol offices and use the armed forces as window dressing for campaigns.

Thank you Nick, what really touched me yesterday was a picture of a grieving widow draped over the casket of her fallen husband/serviceman. The price our soldiers/sailors/marines make goes beyond their personal sacrifice, but is like ripples in pond touching many lives of people they never met.

On a personal note, I know that sometimes the product of the sacrifice is a long time in showing up. My dad was a combat vet of the Korean war, and spent most of his adult life saying bad things about Harry S. Truman for sending him there. He was honest enough to admit he’d never heard of Korea until the war started, hated the place, hated the people, hated the Chinese, hated being shot at, etc. But in 1988 the Olympic Games were in Seoul, and seeing a free, modern, prosperous Korea changed his mind 180*. We, and our UN allies, paid a terrible price in terms of blood & treasure, for reasons that at the time weren’t always clear. (Most now agree that Stalin was simply testing Truman’s Doctrine of defending western Europe.) But 35 years after the end of the war, there it was for the world to see. I pray that the dead of the last 15 years will have their sacrifice come to some better fruition.

Oh, if it was only true! Not one of those who died, lost their lives on USA soil. Even after the fuck up of two wars Bush’s waged in the oil fields of Middle East, the population has not learned that lies are told beforehand. And more will die, since people know nothing because they remember nothing.

Was not 911 on US soil? And I know life gets really difficult when the enemy do not have the courage to wear uniform, but I think they have clearly declared war. (I proudly wore RAF blue with a pilots brevet for 34 years. My high point was graduating from USNTPS.)

I was not able to serve and was told to “Go home” The Navy Chief probably saved my life as basic would have killed me. I now do my part in a different manner. Long Live the U.S.A. and may we respect and honor and may God Bless her veterans.

DMCA Notice: If you own the copyright to any picture and
wish to receive credit or have it removed, please contact me and I will respond promptly.I will not
respond to third-party requests, hearsay, or assumptions—only to the legitimate copyright holder. - Nick